Indeed, when one attempts to restore [Chief Justice John Marshall] to the context of his times, it becomes exceedingly—difficult to separate the business—minded judge from the nationalist statesman.... In his decision on the case of Gibbons v. Ogden, Marshall struck down a steamboat monopoly, and did as much as any single man could do to make the steamboat free upon the western rivers; and the steamboat was not merely an essential factor in the development of the internal market, it was also the very symbol of democracy.... He gained much popularity from his decision, and he might have established the “dormant” power of the commerce clause—that is to say, its implicit veto upon state legislation—without too much disagreement from the rest of the Court. Instead, he merely suggested—and in terms that may have been deliberately confused—the existence of the dormant power.... “We must never forget,” he once said, “that it is a constitution we are expounding...” something organic, capable of growth, susceptible to change....

...The tax code does less to reduce inequality than it did in the late 1970s. (2) Efforts to reduce inequality are not in tension with economic growth.... (3) There are policy options that can make the tax code more progressive that will have broad benefits for everyone.... There are many examples of changes that would be consistent with the literature. Two that are on the table right now would be Eliminating the “stepped-up basis” for taxation of bequests and expanding the Child Tax Credit.... Families passing along large estates to children... the potential damages that could have on the vitality of the economy... a loophole we should close... eliminating the carried interest loophole... transfer taxes, raising the ordinary income tax rates or limiting deductions and exclusions. We can also do a variety of things at the low end.... The Child Tax Credit... partially refundable for a set percentage of income (15 percent) over a set threshold (currently $3,000). The value of the tax credit has been increased and the threshold decreased, both temporarily, in recent years. I recommend making these reforms permanent..."

I agree that it is a very interesting episode: it appears to be the only time in American history in which significant deflationary pressure did not produce a prolonged, deep, grinding slump. Certainly we see a prolonged, deep, grinding slump today; we saw one in the 1930s; and we think we see one back in the Jacksonian era with Jackson's war on the Second Bank of the United States.

Sir William Howe had a chance to get the early start in 1777 that had been denied him the previous year. His first plan, advanced on November 30, 1776, was probably the most comprehensive put forward by any British commander during the war. He proposed to maintain a small force of about 8,000 to contain Washington in New Jersey and 7,000 to garrison New York, while sending one column of 10,000 from Newport into New England and another column of 10,000 from New York up the Hud- son to form a junction with a British force moving down from Canada. On the assumption that these moves would be successful by autumn, he would next capture Philadelphia, the rebel capital, then make the southern provinces the “objects of the winter.”

Over at Equitable Growth: While I found things sufficiently intriguing to be worth a focus post today, I have not been able to get one into good enough shape to pass the quality bar imposed by my internal quality censor.

Live from the Roasterie: With respect to King v. Burwell, can anybody tell me the statistics on what the ultimate Supreme Court vote is when the Supreme Court did not have to take jurisdiction, but rather took it because four of the justices explicitly decided to?

...but averting the prospect of unemployment getting too low, and encouraging the election of Republican presidents--see http://utip.gov.utexas.edu/papers/utip_42.pdf. (It would be good to update that paper with another ten years of data.) The phrase "executive committee of the bourgeoisie" comes to mind. To say it another way--this post, and those of our host's like it, seem far to close to saying: "If only the Little Fathers knew knew what was going on were more careful about their decision theory, they would set things right". And yet, as a wise man used to say often, the cossacks work for the Czar.